Combined fog lamp and head lamp



P w. P. OLINGER COMBINED FOG LAMP AND HEAD LAMR Filed July 11, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet l m n u Inventor William R Olihger April 4, 1950 w. P. OLINGER COMBINED FOG LAMP AND HEAD LAMP 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 11, 1947 Inventor William R Olinger Patented Apr. 4, 1959 UNITED STAT.

,. rut OFFICE] l Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements and structural refinements in driving lamps for automotive vehicles, and the principal object of the invention is to provide a device ofthe character hereindcscribed, which may be employed selectively as an ordinary head lamp and as a fog lamp, the head lamp being adapted for use under normal driving conditions, while the fog lamp may be utilized during rain, snow, fog, and other adverse weather condition.

A further object of the invention is to provide a lamp which, by virtue of its character above outlined, will eliminate the use or" the separate or accessory fog lamps which are now employed in addition to the standard head lamps.

Another object of the invention is to provide a combined fog lamp :and head lam which is simple in construction, which will not easily become damaged, and which may be conveniently manipulated.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a combined. fog lamp and h ad lamp which will readily lend itself to economical manufacture and which is otherwise well adapted for the purposes for which it is intended.

With the above more important objects in view and such other objects as may become apparent as this specification proceeds, the invention consists essentially of the construction and arrangement of parts as shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure l is a fragmentary cross sectional View of the invention, showing the same in readiness for use as a head lamp;

Figure 2 is a cross sectional view, similar to that shown in Figure 1, but illustrating the inventionin readiness for use as a fog lamp;

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view, taken substantially in the plane of the line3-i in Figure 1;

Figure 4; is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the attachment of a link to a lens section used in the invention, and;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the invention, the same being partially broken away to reveal its construction.

Like characters of reference are used to designate like parts in the specification and throughout the several views.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, the invention consists of a combined fog lamp and head lamp designated generally by (Cl. 240d6.03)

tion a substantially semi-spherical lens I S es-5. will be clearly apparent. Thislensispreferabl formed from clear glass, and iwillnbehereina fte referred to as the primary lens..l5.

An incandescent lamp and reflector unit J6 ,is mounted in any suitable manner-in the hous ng I i, the unit it including a substantially. Sena" spherical shell ll provided in the concavity.thei of with a reflector l8 which, in turn,- is equipped with a suitable incandescent. lamp l9. v

One manner of mountingthe, unit, l6 ins-their, housing ii is shown in the,,accompanying.,draw ings, wherein the shell I"! is mountedin theco cavity of a semi spherical casing which, turn, is secured to the aforementioned retainer it. It will be noted that the casingQZD is ,spac, from the shell 5? as at. 2 Landa pairof coacting, concavo-convex secondary, lens sections 'Z Z I-arce movably positioned in thegspacell, asjwill-be presently described... In eifect,,each-of,the -sec tions 22 assumes the form of a'sphericalquad! rant, and the two quadrants are .pivoted,,in .ai diametrically opposed concentric-relation as. ate: 23, to the retainer l3.' Furthermore, it shouldir be noted that the aforementioned casinglllcon-g stitutes what may be referred toas a sphericalg; continuation of the'primary lens 15, and that. the casing 26, together with theishell I l, coact to pro-iii vide a receptacle (in the form of the space 2 for the lens sections-'22, as is best shown in Fig.-;;, ure 1.

It should be also understood thatthe.lenssec tions 22 arev formed from colored preferably}. amber glass, such as is commonly employed,in fog lamps.

Accordingly, when the lens sections -,22.- are dis-.3; posed in the space 2 I, the beam of lightaemanate ing from the lamp i9 will be transmitted through,- the clear primary lens l5, and the device maybek employed in the manner of a conventional head, lamp, as will be clearly understood. vOn the others"; hand, if the lenssections 22 are moved iintoian operative position in the direction'of the-arrow 24 as indicated in Figure. 2, the beamof light will pass through the colored lens sectionssands, the device may be effectively used as .a foglamp."

,Mea-ns are provided. for moving.theJens-seQ-gtions 22 from one .positionto the 'other said Y means consisting of. an. actuating rod 25-;whic I is slidable longitudinally in the housing ,I l' and the sliding of which is controlled in any-,desired' manner, such as -for example, by air,,-pressur" by hydraulic pressure, .or electro-magnetically. In any event, the rod 25is connectedat-oneend thereof as at 25 to a cylindrical member 2,1. which.s.;. is provided at one endv thereof with anannula shoulder 2%, while itsremaining .endportionis flattened as at 29 so that one end of each f; I pairof links 30: may be gpivotallygg;connected"' thereto as at 3|.

A collar 32 is slidably positioned on the member 21 and is formed integrally with a pair of forwardly and outwardly divergent arms 33, the free end portions of which are angulated and are slidably disposed in a pair of guides 34.

Each of the latter simply assumes the form of a pair of L-shaped members secured in spaced parallel relation to an annular support 34' mounted in the housing II, and it will be noted that the guides 34 are disposed at the diametrically opposed sides of the support, as will be clearly understood. By virtue of the guides 34, rotation of the collar 32 upon the member 21 will be effectively prevented.

A lever 35 is pivoted as at 36 to each of the arms 33 and each of the levers is also provided medially of its length with a laterally projecting pin 31' which engages a slot 38 formed in the aforementioned links 30.

A suitable bracket 39 is rigidly secured to each of the lens sections 22, the bracket 39 carrying a roller 40 which is rotatably mounted on a transversely extending pin 4|. A further transversely extending pin 42 is provided medially the length of each of the arms 35 and a pair of tension springs 43 extend between each of the pins 4|, 42, whereby the arms 35 are resiliently connected to the lens sections. It will also be noted that the free end portions of the arms 35 are provided with inclined or curvelinear surfaces 44 which are adapted to engage the rollers 40.

Assuming the device to be in the position illus'trated in the accompanying Figure 1, if the actuating rod 25 is moved in any suitable manner in the direction of the arrow 45,the collar 32 and the associated arms 33 will remain stationary while the member 21 will also move in the direction of the arrow 45. Simultaneously, the links 30 will move forwardly and outwardly as indicated at 46, and the lens sections 22 move forth into the operative position, as at 24.

However, it will be found that the movement of the links 30 will not be suflicient to bring the edges 4'! of the sections 22 in contact and accordingly, in due course the shoulder 28 will engage the collar 32 and will force the collar, together with the arms 33, in the direction of the arrow 45. By this time, the rollers 40 which were previously out of engagement with the surfaces 44 on the arms 35 will now engage said surfaces and will be forced by the arms 35 forwardly, whereby complete moving of the lens sections 22, more specifically, a contact of the edges fill of the lens sections, will be attained.

It will be noted that by virtue of the bracket 39 and the rollers 40, together with the associated springs 43, eifective operative connection of the arms 35 to the lens sections is provided, so' that the lens sections will not become damaged by the arms.

Furthermore, it should be also understood that in order to facilitate free and unobstructed movement of the links 30 and arms 35, the shell I! as well as the casing 20 are formed with a pair of aligned, circumferentially extending slots 48 in which the components 30, 35 may be freely received while they are being actuated by means of the rod 25, as described.

It is believed that the advantages and use of the invention will be clearly understood from the foregoing disclosure and accordingly, further description thereof at this point is deemed unnecessary.

-While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention it is to be understood that minor changes in the details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In a lamp structure, the combination of a pair of coacting lens sections mounted for swinging from an open to a closed position, and means for swinging said lens sections comprising a pair of fulcrum pins disposed in spaced relation at the sides of the lamp structure and adapted to be simultaneously shifted toward and away from said lens sections, a pair of levers fulcrumed on said pins and operatively connected to said lens sections, a slidable actuating member, a pair of links pivoted at one end thereof to said member, said links being disposed in the space between said fulcrum pins and having their remaining ends pivoted to said levers whereby sliding of said member may swing said lens sections from an open to a partially closed position indepen dently of shifting of said fulcrum pins, and means for subsequently shifting said fulcrum pins toward said lens sections whereby the latter may be fully closed through the medium of said levers.

2. The device as defined in claim 1, wherein sliding of said actuating member for an initial portion of its travel partially closes said lens sections through the medium of said links, said means for shifting said fulcrum pins being responsive to the sliding of said member for the ultimate portion of its travel.

3. In a lamp structure, the combination of a pair of coasting lens sections mounted for swinging between open and closed positions, and means for swinging said lens sections comprising a slidable actuating member provided with a shoulder, a collar slidable on said member and engageable by said shoulder, a pair of spaced arms provided on said collar, a pair of levers pivoted to said arms and operatively connected to said lens sections, and a pair of links pivoted to said member and to said levers.

4. The device as defined in claim 3 together with means for operatively connecting said levers to said lens sections, comprising brackets mounted on said lens sections, rotatable rollers in said brackets said levers having end portions formed with cam surfaces engageable by said rollers, and tensioning elements connecting said levers to said brackets.

WILLIAM P. OLINGER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,311,951 Crawford Aug. 5, 1919 1,673,604 Street June 12, 1928 2,170,552 De Porter Aug. 22, 1939 2,300,097 Briehl Oct. 27, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 703,187 France of 1931 860,852 France of 1940- 

